How to make silver coins

Eli Laurens Updated February 21, 2017

Making silver coins can be done in several ways, but the easiest method for the average backyard silversmith is to stamp melted bullion. Melting the silver into flat, round disks, then pressing them with an etched steel stamp is the classic procedure used by ancient civilisations to produce currency.

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Braze the graphite mould briefly to dry it, as moisture can affect the silver.

Melt a half-ounce of silver in the melting dish, using the propane torch. The silver can be from any source, but should have a stamp of purity if testing equipment is not available. Usually, old coin currency from most nations is 90 per cent silver, many items stamped "Sterling" are 92.5 per cent silver, and bars or bullion can be as high as 99.9 per cent pure. It is commonly accepted that it is extremely difficult to make the metal 100 per cent silver, as impurities can have very high melting points.

Pour the molten silver into the open graphite mould. It will begin to harden immediately, and should be poured quickly. After a few moments, turn the mould over and tap out the silver. Dip it in water, or allow it to cool naturally. The silver will now be a round bullion disk, about one-eighth to one-sixth of an inch thick.

Place the disk into the stamp, then strike it hard with the hammer. Do not strike it twice, or a double image may result. The result should be a deep imprint of the chosen design.

Tip

It is also possible to stamp letters and numbers individually, if a steel whole-coin stamp cannot be obtained.

Warning

Do not handle hot silver, allow it to cool first.

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Things You'll Need

Melting dish

Amount of silver

85.1gr round graphite ingot mould

Propane torch

Steel stamp with design

Anvil

Hammer

References

Resources

About the Author

Eli Laurens is a ninth-grade physics teacher as well as a computer programmer and writer. He studied electrical engineering and architecture at Southern Polytechnic University in Marietta, Ga., and now lives in Colorado.